NMCOG examines Route 3 tie-ups

By Ed Hannan, Sun Correspondent

Updated:
01/25/2013 06:35:20 AM EST

LOWELL -- Commuters from Greater Lowell and Southern New Hampshire endured backups twice a day traversing north and south on Route 3 each weekday morning and night, but those logjams waned considerably upon the addition of a third lane in each direction a decade ago.

These days, the traffic still exists, but is a bit harder to find. That is, unless you find yourself in places like Drum Hill Road, Wood Street or the Rourke Bridge. While (mostly) stop and (occasionally) go traffic hotspots exist throughout the Merrimack Valley, the high number of traffic lights, intersections and businesses along this mile or so stretch of road in Chelmsford and Lowell can be particularly frustrating at night.

Weary commuters looking to get home to see their kids and have a bite to eat after a long day at work instead find themselves backed up on Route 3 north to the Drum Hill rotary, then along Drum Hill Road, Westford Street, Wood Street and the Rourke Bridge.

What takes five minutes or so with no traffic can take nearly a half-hour to get from Route 3 across the Rourke Bridge, if you time it wrong.

And with more than 27,000 vehicles crossing the bridge each day, the end of the journey can be as frustrating as getting through Drum Hill Road and Wood Street.

There are plans to find a workable solution, spearheaded by the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments, along with traffic consultant Vanasse Hangen Brustlin of Watertown.

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NMCOG conducted its third in a series of five public meetings Thursday night at Clark Auditorium at Lowell General Hospital.

Thursday's meeting looked at immediate and short-term improvements that can be made along the corridor, while plans for redesigning or replacing the Rourke Bridge are being discussed.

Laura Castelli, VHB project manager, told the 40 in attendance that of the 35 intersections in the study area, seven lack traffic signals. However, even those intersections with traffic signals could see improved traffic flow through better signal timing and coordination among signals at different intersections, such as the University Avenue corridor, the School Street corridor and the Drum Hill Road corridor.

For example, the many signals along Drum Hill Road could be tied together and to the Drum Hill rotary traffic signal.

"We need to look at how much traffic is through traffic, versus stopping along Drum Hill Road," Castelli said. "That affects how signals can be coordinated."

Castelli said the study group looked at widening the Drum Hill Road/Westford Street corridor to four lanes, two in each direction, to match the proposed four-lane Rourke Bridge redesign, but the road north of the Drum Hill Road-Westford Street intersection is "very narrow. There are significant property impacts with any widening, including some residential and historic properties and shopping plazas along the roadway. At this time, we're not looking at widening that area now. We are still looking at widening the Drum Hill corridor and whether parking can be reconfigured. That would be part of coordinating signals along the corridor."

At the next public meeting, likely to take place in mid-March, Castelli said there will be discussion as to whether widening Drum Hill Road is viable.

Of the 35 intersections in the study area, 17 operate at a poor level of service, meaning the average wait time is 65 seconds or more to get through the intersection. Signal timing changes would improve nine of the 17 intersections, Castelli said. "It wouldn't look like traffic disappeared or you'd never have to wait at a stop light again, but it would be noticeably better than today."

At the final public meeting in mid-May, discussion will focus on short-term and long-term options, including the fate of the Rourke Bridge. Possible options, all of which involve expanding it from two lanes to four, include replacing the temporary bridge with a permanent structure and shifting the Pawtucket Boulevard side of the bridge to Old Ferry Road.

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